1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a reading device for reading data recorded on a card such as a boarding pass.
2. Description of the Related Art
Before boarding the plane, the passenger inserts his boarding pass into a reading device located at the boarding gate. Then, the reading device reads data recorded on the boarding pass and confirms the passenger's name and seat number/vacancy.
FIG. 1 shows the layout of a normal boarding pass. The boarding pass 19 has a passenger's stub 19a and an airline-retained portion 19b which are separated along a cut-off line 19c at the time of boarding. A magnetic stripe 19d is formed on the reverse side of the boarding pass 19 and extends in the lengthwise direction thereof. Data, including the name of the passenger, the seat number and the like, are recorded on the magnetic stripe when the boarding pass 19 is issued.
FIG. 2 schematically shows the internal structure of a reading device for reading data on boarding passes. The reading device has an inlet port 2 on the front portion thereof. The boarding pass 19 is inserted into the inlet port 2 in the correct orientation, i.e. face up with the airline-retained portion 19b preceding the passenger's stub 19a. The inlet port 2 has predetermined dimensions to guide the inserted boarding pass into the internal portion.
After insertion, the boarding pass 19 is fed from the inlet port 2 to a reading section 3 by means of feeding rollers 17 which are disposed along a feeding path 21.
The reading section 3 has a reading head 4 for reading data recorded on the magnetic stripe 19d of the boarding pass 19 fed thereto. The reading head 4 is formed with extremely high precision and functions to read recorded data from the boarding pass 19 when the boarding pass 19 is fed thereto with the correct orientation maintained.
After the reading operation, the boarding pass 19 is fed to a cutter 5. The cutter 5 cuts the boarding pass 19 along the cut-off line 19c so as to separate the boarding pass 19 into the passenger's stub 19a and airline-retained portion 19b. Subsequently, the airline-retained portion 19b is guided to a collection path 9 selected by a gate valve 6 and is then received by a hopper 12 via a gate valve 11. Meanwhile, the passenger's stub 19a is guided to a return path 7 selected by the gate valve 6 and discharged from an outlet port 8. The passenger then picks up the discharged passenger's stub 19a of the boarding pass and boards the plane.
When inserting the boarding pass 19 into the inlet port 2, the boarding pass 19 may be inserted in an incorrect orientation (for example, the passenger's stub of the boarding pass 19 is set forward or the reverse side thereof is set upward) and accepted by the reading device. When the boarding pass 19 is conveyed to the reading section 3, the reading head 4 cannot read data recorded on the magnetic stripe 19d since the magnetic stripe 19d does not face the reading head 4. Therefore, it is necessary to re-insert the pass 19 into the card inlet port 2 in the correct orientation.
If such a case arises, a problem may occur in the boarding procedure if a large number of boarding passes 19 must be checked in an extremely short time. For example, even if a person who is good at handling the reading device is placed in charge and stationed to receive the boarding passes 19 from the passengers one after another and insert them into the card inlet port 2 one at a time, there is still a possibility that the may insert a boarding pass with the front side facing down. Of course, this problem may more frequently occur when into the inlet port 2 under instructions from the person in charge.
In order to solve the above problem, the construction of a reading device is herein considered, in which data can be read irrespective of the orientation of the boarding pass 19 at the point of insertion. More specifically, four reading heads 4 are used, two of them disposed above the boarding pass 19 in the width direction thereof and the remaining two heads disposed below the boarding pass 19 in the width direction thereof. With this arrangement, data can be correctly read even when the boarding pass is inserted with the wrong side set upward or the rear end set forward.
However, when the reading device 3 is constructed occur:
(1) The manufacturing cost of the reading device becomes higher with an increase in the number of reading heads 4 which are very precise parts and consequently expensive. (2) The arrangement of the four reading heads 4 is determined according to the position of the magnetic stripe of the boarding pass 19 and cannot be freely changed. As a result, it becomes difficult to reduce the overall size of the reading device. (3) The positions of the four reading heads 4 must be separately and precisely adjusted in order to correctly read data even if troublesome. (4) Further, in order to operate the four reading heads 4 and read data on the boarding pass 19, a special treatment must be made in order to compensate for differences between the characteristics of each head.